UPDATE: The Reason Why This Father Is Crowdsourcing Funds for His Newborn Son Will Break Your Heart

UPDATE: 2/9/15 The child's mother, Ruzan Badalyan, has released a statement via Facebook, defending her position. She calls the day of her son's birth "the happiest" of her life. When she learned of her son's diagnosis, she claims doctors soon after asked if she wanted the baby or not. "One can never imagine my feelings at that moment." She then goes on to describe what lead her to her controversial decision.

"I had to make the most ruthless decision in my life within several hours. The first thing that came to my mind after the diagnosis was that I don't want my child to live in a country where certain stereotypes dominate the lives of people with DS and no opportunities at all.

I want him to be involved and well-received in society, an integration that will require years and years for our society to adjust to. I saw the evasive looks of the doctors, my relatives' tear-stained faces, received calls of condolences and realised that only a move to a country with such standards as New Zealand would entitle my son to a decent life."

She says her husband also supported that the baby should be raised in New Zealand. Armenia, she said, doesn't have the "social infrastructure" that could support children with special needs. She also didn't have the salary--and neither did her husband--to take on the financial responsibility. She then says that Sam basically left the hospital with the baby and told her hours later that he was going to New Zealand with his son, and she "did not have anything to do with the situation." Her attempts to reach out to him have not been successful. Read the rest of her statement here.

New father Samuel Forrest tells ABC News he knew that, with the birth of his first child last month, "his life would change forever." That's the case for every parent, after all. Unfortunately for Forrest, the situation wasn't quite life-changing in the way he'd anticipated. Via ABC:

"This pediatrician walks out of the room with a little bundle — that was Leo," Forrest said. "She had his face covered up and hospital authorities wouldn't let me see him or my wife. When the doctor came out, he said, 'There's a real problem with your son.'"

Forrest's son Leo was born with Down syndrome, doctors told him. In Armenia, where Forrest and his wife lived with her family at the time, this represents a terrible cultural taboo. On the GoFundMe page Forrest is now running to raise funds for Leo, he explains:

In this tiny, landlocked country renowned for its hospitality, scores of babies are abandoned each year, for reasons ranging from physical or intellectual disabilities and minor 'imperfections.' This practice of abandoning children due to disabilities is unfortunately widespread throughout Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union, resulting from a culture which refused to accept human defects. Health professionals estimate that 98% of all Down Syndrome babies born in Armenia are abandoned, every year. These abandoned babies are often placed in squalid orphanages, where they live and die, rejected and forgotten by society.

ABC News describes this as "hospital practices in Armenia" relating to babies born with disabilities; Daily Mail adds, "Armenian culture believes a child with a condition like Leo's brings shame on the entire family." And Forrest's Armenian wife Ruzan gave him an ultimatum right there: his marriage or his child, he said. "What happens when a baby like this is born [in Armenia], they will tell you that you don't have to keep them," he explained. "My wife had already decided ... all of this was done behind my back." Forrest adds, via GoFundMe, that his wife refused to touch or even look at Leo.

He chose to keep his son, and a week later she filed for divorce. Reached for comment by ABC News, Ruzan confirmed that "she did have a child with Down syndrome and she has left her husband, who has the child, but declined to elaborate." (No comment has been made by the hospital in question.)

With little work, no money, resources or family, and now no home, his father Sam wants to return to New Zealand with Leo, where Leo can have a quality of life and acceptance, integration into society that sadly, is not yet possible in Armenia.

Forrest set a target of $60,000 to pay for the move and a year's worth of "love, cuddles & devotion." As of 8:20 a.m. EST this morning, and following much media coverage, over $200,000 has been raised for Leo's care. And donations are still pouring in. The extra money will be used to fund Leo's care and education in the longer term when he's back in New Zealand, and also to raise awareness and foster change in the way Down syndrome children are treated in Armenia. Money will be spent to "fund facilities and programs here in Armenia that will support future parents to keep their kids despite all disabilities," Forrest writes in an update, adding that surplus funds will also be sent to the one — because there is apparently only one — Armenian orphanage that cares for Down syndrome babies.

"After what I've been through with Leo, I'm not going to sit back and watch babies be sent to orphanages," he told ABC News. "This little guy," referring to his son, "is great."

Alex ReesDeputy Editor of NewsI’m the news director here at Cosmopolitan.com, and I could really use a cup of tea right now.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io

This commenting section is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page. You may be able to find more information on their web site.

A Part of Hearst Digital Media
Redbook participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.